TPUSA holds discussion table, encourages debate

Turning Point USA (TPUSA) at Troy aimed at engaging in debate with students by holding a discussion table in the Trojan Center last Thursday.   

The organization’s claim was “big government sucks,” which was painted on a banner taped to the front of their table. According to TPUSA at Troy President Caityln Harris, the table was set up to encourage civil debate. 

“Ultimately, the spirit of a debate should be a conversation,” Harris said. “It shouldn't just be a strict argument. 

“I think having a debate should be a discussion. It shouldn't be aggressive. We should be able to simply talk about what we believe in and where we disagree.” 

Harris also shared why the organization made the claim. 

“If you look back at the history of Turning Point USA, the first claim Charlie Kirk ever made at 18 years old was ‘big government sucks,’” Harris said. “That's what Turning Point USA was founded on,  

so, in that spirit, we wanted ‘big government sucks’ to be the first topic.” 

Davis Menefee, a junior criminal justice major from Pike Level, Alabama, spoke to Harris about TPUSA at Troy’s claim. 

“I think the ‘big government sucks’ claim has a lot of truth behind it,” Menefee said. “I feel like politicians are in it more for their own personal gain and benefit nowadays. 

“It feels like they don’t care about actual people. As you can see right now, the government is shut down, and you see the congress is still getting paid.” 

President of College Democrats of Troy University Markcus Cooper did not visit TPUSA at Troy’s table but weighed in on the organization’s “big government sucks” claim. 

“I think the ‘big government sucks’ statement oversimplifies a complex issue,” Cooper said. “Government isn’t inherently bad; in fact, it’s often the only force capable of protecting people’s rights, providing equal opportunity and investing in the public good. 

“The problem isn’t government itself, but how effectively it serves the people. It makes sense for Turning Point to make a baseless statement like that, because their ideology tends to reject the idea of collective responsibility. 

“They don’t believe in standing up for the little guy — their approach is more of an ‘every man for himself’ mindset, which overlooks how interconnected our communities really are.” 

TPUSA at Troy is considering holding a weekly table at the Trojan Center. According to Harris, potential claims for the future could include “merit over DEI” and “abortion is murder.”